Baby Update: Week 33 (49 days to go!)

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

There are times when it seems like forever until Ashely is in our arms, but it's those days when I get an e-mail saying only 49 more days!!  There's definitely plenty to get done before she gets here, but I also know that she'll come whether those things are done or not! I've been really good trying to just be content with pregnancy, knowing it will be over "any day now". But in just the last few weeks I've had 2 friends have their babies and I know of 2-3 others that could pop any day....it's hard to wait patiently in line. :) But I am constantly reminded that currently I'm getting a somewhat decent night's sleep and only have one child to be chasing around and catering to.  And that as of right  now, Ashely is VERY low maintenance!! We're just so excited to meet her!!!

Week 32 - only 56 days to go!!

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama - which is funny because I actually bought one this size on Sunday!) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth. To accommodate you and your baby's growing needs, your blood volume has increased 40 to 50 percent since you got pregnant.

Not a whole lot to update today since I just posted a few days ago. I had my check up yesterday (we're now into the 2-week appts!) and Ashley is measuring right on. I love it when they tell me that because that was the main sign that something was not right with Kristen, that she was measuring really small. So when they measure my belly and she's exactly where she should be, it makes me so happy and relieved!

For those interested, what they measure is the "fundal height" From BabyCenter: the distance from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus. This measurement allows her to assess your baby's size, growth rate, and position. As a rule of thumb, your fundal height (in centimeters) should roughly equal the number of weeks you're pregnant. For example, at 20 weeks, your fundal height should be about 18 to 22 centimeters.  And every week Ashley has measured exactly to her age!! :) Good girl!! :)

update to the crazy shopping weekend

So I made one more stop on the way home last night to cash in (almost literally!) on the cereal deal. And much to my delight there was a bunch of tea on clearance! I also bought the butter that we really needed - without a coupon! See I can do it when I have to!! (although it WAS on sale!)

So without all the details, here's the final tally for the weekend:
34 boxes of cereal (looking forward to giving some of it away!)
10 cans of 100% juice
6 bananas
4 Stash Teas
1 Pizza
1 tub of butter
1 bag of bendy straws
Value of groceries (if I paid full price):  $216.01
Total Cash Spent: $7.46
Total Saved: $208.55 (avg. 96.5% off!!)
with $11 credit for my next shopping trip!

Then today I was able to go to the local produce stand and stock up on fresh fruits & veggies with the "money left over". I'm heading to Walgreens this week for diapers which are on a good sale again - we're gonna need 'em pretty soon and I might as well stock up while they're cheap! I already have an $8 credit to cash in so I'm already starting ahead! Talk about stretching your budget! :)

How much did your Friday night cost?

Last night Kevin and I went on a "date." Katelynn was at her grandparents' and we had a gift card for Red Lobster from Christmas so we decided to make it a date. After our free dinner, we did one of our favorite things to do together - grocery shopping. Not just any grocery shopping, mind you! Kevin calls it legalized robbery, I call it frugality as it's best! Not only do I love saving so much money on our groceries, but I love that he enjoys it just as much as I do! :)
Big Picture:
Went in with $10 in store credit. Spent $3.74. Left with $11 in store credit and $125 worth of groceries.
So essentially we made $7.00!!

For those that care, here's what we did and what we got for less than 4!!

Transaction #1:
4 boxes of cereal
10 cans of juice (on rain check from last week)
6 coupons
$10 credit from last week's frozen food sale
Total $3.26
Savings of $29.20

Transaction #2:
6 boxes of cereal
6 bananas - had to buy these to get my total above $0.00
6 coupons
$5 credit from buying the juice in transaction #1
Total $.31
Savings of $29.00

Transaction #3
6 boxes of cereal
1 package of bendy straws - they were on sale and it's fun to have them, not to mention I had to buy something to get my total above $0.00
6 coupons
$5 credit from buying the juice in transaction #1
Total $.09
Savings of $29.89

Transaction #4
6 boxes of cereal
1 pizza
8 coupons
$4 credit for buying cereal in prior transaction
Total: $.03
Savings of $33.80

Total paid: $3.74
Total saved: $121.89
Value of groceries: $125.63
and still came home with $11 more dollars in store credit for buying the cereal to use on the next sale!

What am I going to do with all the cereal? Well, I wanted enough to supply my family and house guests (with baby coming, I want EASY!!) for at least a few months. It won't expire until after Christmas, so we've got time to eat it! And I plan on going back for more free cereal today so I can give it away! I'm essentially making $.46 on each set of 6 that I buy, so why not!!??  Who says couponing isn't worth it??

Oh and by the way, I only "clipped" about 5 of these coupons, the rest I actually bought on e-Bay for about $2. I probably put about 30 minutes into preparing for this particular trip to the store and another 20 minutes in the store. So an hours worth of time and I saved $121.....$120 an hour isn't bad for a stay at home mom! :)

K-A-T-E-L-Y-N-N

The other day Katelynn was off playing by herself with a pen and her paper chattering away about what she was writing. Not all uncommon for her. She then asked for her scissors to cut what she had made.Not uncommon either as that's what they do in school. I told her she just had to be sure all her pieces were picked up when she was done. She usually cuts her paper to resemble confetti. She did pick them up....much later...with a number of reminders. However, there was one piece she said she was keeping for Parker, a little boy in her class who I think sits at her table.

Well, last night as Kevin and I were picking things up in the family room, we found her special piece of paper that she was keeping....my jaw almost hit the floor! It was her name!! With no help, no asking "how do I make a K?", she did it all on her own and didn't even tell us!!  It took us a LOT of time and practice to do a K, those are tricky! And here she did her whole name.....wow!!  And I think it's Parker's name at the end, not sure. I'll have to ask her. :)  And I'm also impressed with her cutting job! Such a proud momma! :)
(since we had to have our computer completely wiped clean and everything reinstalled, I haven't reinstalled my photo program yet to be able to edit this photo. So you'll just have to put up with all the extra space! You should be able to click on it to enlarge it.)

Only 9 more weeks!!! (Updates for Weeks 30 & 31)

Hard to believe we only have 9 weeks left! We're into single digits, folks!!
We were without a home computer for a couple of weeks so here's the updates in case you were curious!

Week 30:
Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face. (Normal adult vision is 20/20.)

Week 31:
This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. She weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. She can turn her head from side to side, and her arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath her skin. She's moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.

And in true form, last week the braxton hicks started! (for both Katelynn and Kristen I had them for the last 2 months) Sometimes they're not too bad, other times I need to take a moment to either sit down, change position or just breath. Some people complain about them but I welcome them! They mean my body knows what to do and is warming up for game time! Woo-hoo!

But I have to be careful what I saw about how I feel because I have a little imitator watching my every move! Last week Katelynn complained of a tummy ache all morning but didn't think she should stay home from school. (normally, if she's REALLY not feeling well, she's okay to stay home.) I was worried that she'd tell her teachers that she was sick and they'd want me to come get her. Then we finally discovered why her tummy hurt so bad...."the baby was kicking her and turning around" and it hurt! Then the next day she said her hip, back, tummy and jaw were all hurting. With relaxin running through my body (the hormone that helps ligaments to relax) I've been pretty uncomfortable lately and apparently she's picking up on every discomfort!

But all in all we're doing well and super excited to meet Baby Ashely! But in due time...I have been reminded a number of times that currently she's "low maintenance" and in a few weeks it will change forever! Even when she is doing somersaults in the middle of the night, I find a little bit of enjoyment in it because it just a few weeks, I won't feel that any more. I've heard it said before: "Instead of wishing away 9 months of pregnancy (which is really almost 10 months - it's 40 weeks!) I want to cherish every moment and realize that the wonderment growing inside me is the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle."

Week 29 - we're in warp speed now!

Feels like I just posted about being at 28 weeks and here comes another baby-update e-mail welcoming me to Week 29! Here's what they have to say:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

It's been funny to see people's reactions to my belly - especially if they haven't seen me in a week or two. (and I suppose depending on what I'm wearing too!) Ashley's definitely getting bigger as she's not flopping around so much anymore, there's no room! But she's still wiggling & stirring enough to be a constant reminder that she's in there! Hard to believe there's only "officially" 11 weeks left. (I have to keep reminding myself that she could come as soon as 9 weeks or as late as 13 weeks.....gotta love how pregnancy reminds you of your lack of control and ability to plan!) :)